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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29645496">Hard Reset</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/miacottontail/pseuds/miacottontail'>miacottontail</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, M/M, May become a longer thing, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), not sure yet - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:48:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,246</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29645496</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/miacottontail/pseuds/miacottontail</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short drabble following the Best Ending. Can be read as Gen or Pre-Slash.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hank Anderson &amp; Connor, Hank Anderson/Connor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hard Reset</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The idea of a second marriage never crossed the mind of one Hank Anderson. For one, he never believed in a million years that he would ever separate from his lovely wife. Vanessa was perfect, their life together was perfect, and their son was perfect. The thought of going anywhere else with anyone else was absurd.</p>
<p>The accident that cost him Cole also killed any hope that love could withstand anything.</p>
<p>Time passed and drinks passed through him, wearing down his liver to an innocent bystander. Hank and Vanessa grew apart as grief attacked them in different ways. Eventually, she only got in touch with him on his birthday, Cole's birthday, and the anniversary of their son's death.</p>
<p>She remarried. Fowler put a bet on how long that would last. He would win that bet by a large margin.</p>
<p>With his faith in humanity, machines, and love shattered and thrown to the wind, Hank let himself float through the days without direction or concern about making it to the next. He lost friends, gained twenty pounds, and found himself stuck in a rut of self-pity and wasted time.</p>
<p>Then, a funny-looking android bought him a drink.</p>
<p>Over the course of a week, Hank's entire world toppled on its head because of Connor. He was still a lonely man with an airport's worth of baggage, but he saw something he thought died in him long ago. He saw it when Connor stopped Gavin from roughing up Carlos Ortiz's android, when he was pulled up from the roof, and when Connor gave up an incredible bit of information to spare Chloe.</p>
<p>He saw hope.</p>
<p>What truly solidified it was the standoff in the basement of the Cyberlife warehouse. Of course, it wasn't enough that Connor risked the liberation of androids to save Hank's life, he had to get them stuck in a "find-the-fake" nightmare. Hank was so close to losing the only friend he'd made since Cole died, since Vanessa left him; since his world imploded. And Connor understood that, better than any human he'd known could. And that saved both of them.</p>
<p>It allowed them to share that moment of coming together under the highway in the light of a new world. Connor smiled at him—truly smiled at him— for the first time. And Hank held him like the world would end if he let go.</p>
<p>The moment he felt Connor's arms around him, some small part of his world felt whole again.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"Hank, where do you keep your bleach?"</p>
<p>"My what?"</p>
<p>Connor poked his head out of the bathroom. "Your bleach. I'm doing a load of whites."</p>
<p>"Jesus, Connor," Hank sighed from the couch, "I told ya, you don't have to do my fuckin' housework. You're a free man!"</p>
<p>"I do happen to own clothes of my own," Connor said. "And most of my shirts require bleach to clean properly."</p>
<p>"Well, I'm pretty sure regular detergent will work just fine."</p>
<p>Connor stepped out of the bathroom with an incredulous look on his face.</p>
<p><em>Add that one to the list of new emotions, </em>Hank thought as he took another sip of his beer.</p>
<p>"Lieutenant," Connor started, pinching the solid bridge of his nose. "Please tell me you don't use the same detergent for all of your laundry."</p>
<p>Hank groaned at the honorific. "What's the big deal? They're just clothes."</p>
<p>"The 'big deal' is that I cannot remove certain stains with detergent alone," Connor said slowly. "You remember the line of work we're in, right?"</p>
<p>"Yes, I do remember," Hank said. "Which is why I don't understand why you wear a goddamn suit with a white shirt to work every fuckin' day."</p>
<p>"It's the standard uniform, and my suits happen to be very comfortable."</p>
<p>"Says the guy without nerve endings."</p>
<p>Connor found himself stunned into silence. Even with mental synapses firing at the speed of twenty-million supercomputers, he couldn't think of a reply to suck a biting (albeit teasing) remark.</p>
<p>A smirk spread across Hank's face as he returned his attention to the evening news.</p>
<p>Connor's LED cycled between yellow and red at the loss. After a moment, he grabbed his jacket off the coat rack. Not the Cyberlife one he'd been made with. That particular article of clothing was ceremoniously burned in a bonfire that Connor would have labeled excessive. But it did feel good to let go of that last bit of his old life.</p>
<p>And it certainly made Hank happy.</p>
<p>"Hey, hey, the hell're you doing?" The man in question asked.</p>
<p>Connor froze at Hank's tone. "I'm going out to pick up some bleach. Do you need anything else while I'm-"</p>
<p>"Nah, sit your ass down. You're not going out this late."</p>
<p>"It's just a short walk."</p>
<p>The Sumo-shaped lump in the corner perked up at the use of the dreaded W-word.</p>
<p>"Calm down, you," he scolded Sumo before turning his attention back to Connor. "You, too. You can go out tomorrow."</p>
<p>"We have other priorities tomorrow," Connor said as he put on his shoes.</p>
<p>"And Detroit is a shit-storm at night!"</p>
<p>"Hank, I've killed people. You've seen me kill people. I'm more than capable of-"</p>
<p>"Not tonight." Hank's expression steeled. "Okay?"</p>
<p>Another retort died on Connor's tongue as his eyes flicked to the TV. The newsreel scrolled by on the bottom of the screen as the anchor droned on about local political drama. One of the headlines happened to be a report of three police androids going missing within the last week.</p>
<p>Any fight Connor would have put up fell away. He toed his shoes off, hung his coat back up, and sat down on the couch with a silent half-smile.</p>
<p>"Thank you," Hank said. "Your anal-retentive laundry shit can wait twelve hours."</p>
<p>The edge of Connor's lips turned up as he felt Hank's heart rate drop and his shoulders relax. He hated the implication that he bent to Hank's will, but there was something deep in his program that liked keeping a smile on his partner's face. Besides, arguing about his safety was a fight he was bound to lose.</p>
<p>"It would have to wait if you knew how to do laundry," Connor said under his breath.</p>
<p>"Watch it, smartass," Hank chuckled. "You sound like my ex-wife."</p>
<p>"I could imitate her voice perfectly, if you want-"</p>
<p>"No, no, god no!" Hank shivered at the thought. "You trying to drive me back to the bottle?"</p>
<p>Connor's gaze softened. "Never, Hank."</p>
<p>Hank turned to meet the android's eyes for a moment and...something he couldn't describe happened. Something within him suddenly broke, but then came back together in the same instant. An overwhelming rush of fear and joy, dread and want, came over him. All that, just from staring into Connor's deep brown eyes. He didn't know what it meant, but a single thought crossed his mind:</p>
<p>
  <em>I wouldn't mind spending the rest of the life with this goofball.</em>
</p>
<p>"Captain Fowler informed me that Detective Reed is getting assigned a new partner," Connor said, facing the TV again. "An <em>android </em>partner."</p>
<p>That bit of gossip brought Hank out of his own head. "Are you fucking serious?" He laughed. "God, I need a fucking picture of that prick's face when that android walks in. You can't write this shit, it's too perfect!"</p>
<p>Connor remained forward-facing for a bit longer as Hank laughed. He had to will his LED to go back to blue as a confusion sensation roiled in his gut.</p>
<p>Thankfully, Hank didn't notice.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading. All comments and Kudos are much appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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